Not to rain on the parade in which the Yankees have participated only once in the last 15 years, but unless the franchise’s mission statement has undergone a dramatic sea change, then ownership and management have one mandate and one mandate only approaching the onrushing Aug. 1 non-waivers trade deadline.

And that is to construct a World Series champion.

A valid challenge for a wild-card berth does not appear altogether impossible following Sunday’s 5-2 victory over the struggling Giants at the Stadium that put a bow on a 9-5 run that began in Cleveland in the final series before the All-Star break and continued through this homestand that finished with a 6-2 flourish against Boston, Baltimore and San Francisco.

And the legitimacy of the Yankees’ still-insurgent candidacy will be further determined by the outcome of their three-game series that begins Monday night in Houston against the Astros, one of the handful of clubs New York will have to leapfrog in order to qualify for postseason ball.

A sweep and Hal Steinbrenner and his cabinet would gain some cover if they decide to protect most of their assets. But the apparent impending trade of Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs in exchange for a package featuring prime 19-year-old infield prospect Gleyber Torres indicates the world championship bar has not been lowered in the dead of the night.

Trading a mighty weapon of the present for a potential game-changer of the future is as it should be, even if the schedule in which the Yankees will play 20 of their final 30 games against the Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays — who hold the top three spots in the East — makes a late charge more mathematically possible for the team that is 41-31 since May 5.

But that run was constructed with Chapman as the intimidating and indomitable closer, even if Sunday’s impressive victory was achieved without him and without Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, all of whom had worked on both Friday and Saturday.

The odds on the Yankees not only sustaining their .569 pace since bottoming out at 9-17, but improving it — .569 the rest of the way equates to a final 86-76 record that is not at all likely to be good enough — obviously decrease without Chapman. (The Yankees are 36-3 with the lead after six innings following last year’s 57-9.)

But so be it. Because the most important long-term byproduct of the Yankees’ improved play has been the elevation in value of the team’s marketable commodities. Carlos Beltran, by leaps and bounds the team’s most productive player and who clocked another home run Sunday, has considerable value to teams seeking a bat on either side of the plate. Nathan Eovaldi, who threw a season-high 118 pitches over a gutty 6 ²/₃ innings, has value to teams seeking to bolster their rotation. Brett Gardner, who had a fine homestand, has value to teams looking for outfield depth.

Of course, their respective departures would create holes for the Yankees. That is understood. But the idea for Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman is not to patch their way into a race. At least it never has been that way since George took command in 1973 — and certainly not since the One and Only Principal Owner returned from his second suspension in 1993.

This doesn’t mean that the Yankees should simply conduct a yard sale. Of course not. If a team wants Beltran (.305/.348/.554 with 21 homers, 62 RBI and a .902 OPS) it should have to pay for the ultimate professional.

Cashman has the responsibility to establish a reasonable bottom-line value on his players. If not met, they should remain in Pinstripes — actually the road greys — for the Aug. 1 game against the Mets at Citi Field will begin three hours after the deadline. The option of waiver deals later in the month would still exist.

Look, this whole thing could still go south in a hurry in Houston, beginning with Monday’s game against lefty tormentor Dallas Keuchel. Regardless, the organization has the obligation to use this eight-day window as an opportunity to reconstruct for the future and a legitimate run at World Series championship No. 28.